Varieties of religion-family linkages.

The 4 articles in this special issue make important contributions to both family and religious studies as well as to their interface. This commentary begins by considering 4 unifying themes present across all of the articles, including meaningful religion-family linkages, the importance of gender differences in the faith-family interface, the significance of intergenerational relationships, and the need for better theory. The authors then discuss the unique major strength and secondary limitations of each study. Finally, the commentary focuses on two challenges inhibiting the contemporary study of religion and the family--a relative lack of racial and religious diversity in samples and the lack of a unifying theory of religion-family linkages--and suggests how to adjust the trajectory of future theory and research to address these issues.